Out of Retirement
by Rhiannon A. Christy
Summary: Mycroft had grown bored with retirement, he had done everything he could possibly do. Now years after the fall of the Dark Lord, he has been asked to join the staff at Hogwarts as the new Defense Against the Dark Arts Teacher. Only the job comes with a bit more than just his own rooms. Wizard!Mycroft Potterlock


It had been a long time since Mycroft had been to Hogwarts. Though proud of his education, he was of the opinion that one shouldn't look backwards. He had finished his classes within the castle walls years before and gone on to work for the Ministry as a liaison between the wizard and muggle world. At least that was the official story regarding the matter. The reality was much different.

He had spent most of his post-Hogwarts years heading U.M.B.R.E.L.A, the Undercover Military Branch of the Really Excellent League of Assassins. The witches and wizards that were under his command had been placed throughout the wizarding world, disguised as everything from lowly bar-wenches to some of the greatest scholars of the time. Their purpose had been to locate and abolish all those believed to be connected with Lord Voldemort without implicating the Ministry. They had full control to try and execute those in their possession, and they had. Under his command some two hundred had been executed, ten of them by his own hand. Many others had been convicted and sent to Azkaban. Though they had not been able to prevent war, Mycroft firmly believed that his work had saved their world from an even larger disaster.

Mycroft looked around from his seat at the head table. It really had been many years. The school had been damaged by the battle, but that had been long enough ago now that only the memorial to the fallen remained as a reminder of that dark time. He had given up his place as the head of U.M.B.R.E.L.A a year after that battle. In truth, he had only remained on so long because he felt guilty that he hadn't been able to prevent it happening. His brother, Sherlock, had taken over his team only a month after his departure. From the few updates, he received, Sherlock seemed to be doing an excellent job.

After leaving his team, Mycroft had thought to retire. Sure, he was rather young for a wizard, but his line of work tended to age one. He had lasted several years, settling down in the Holmes Manor that had been left empty since his parents had decided to spend their senior years traveling the world. He had read every book in the ancient library, acquired more and read them. He had practiced spells that he had always planned to get around to, but never did. He had even invented a few new ones. During the last few years of his retirement he had devoted to achieving his animagus, a raven would not have been his first choice, but it was better than some he had heard of. By the time he had received the offer of a job at Hogwarts he had been bored out of his mind. Thus, he was seated at the head table being introduced to the students as the new Defense teacher. A position he believed his more than qualified for.

"It has been an age since I've seen you. How's Sherlock?"

Mycroft jolted out of his reverie with the voice beside him. To be truthful he hadn't really paid attention to anyone besides the Headmistress. He turned to look at the witch beside him and blinked. He had heard that Molly Hooper had been working at Hogwarts, but he guessed it hadn't dawned on him that he would be working with her.

"The last I heard from him he was doing well." Mycroft gave a short smile before settling his face in a blank expression. Ms Hooper had been attached to his brother at one point, a girlfriend or lover of some sort. It had been the one and only time that he had ever been jealous of his brother. Ms. Hooper had been an extraordinary witch with an exceptional mind.

"I'm glad. After everything that happened with Moriarty…" Molly trailed off, knowing the subject of the dark wizard to be a sensitive one. For two years, the entire wizarding world believed Sherlock Holmes to be in league with the Dark Lord, something that only a few of them had known to be wrong. Molly being one of them.

"Indeed…" Mycroft cleared his throat and looked away. After a moment, he turned back. "How… how have you been? I admit that I haven't kept up with you since my brother's return."

"I've been fine. My father… well he died during the battle, but Mother and I have been doing well. Mostly since I was given the Potions position here." Molly smiled, though it was easy to see the pain behind her eyes. Mycroft was sure that it would take more than a few years to remove the horror of war from the wizarding world.

After taking a drink Molly turned in her chair and rested a hand on Mycroft's arm. "I have to admit that I've thought about you more than once since things ended with Sherlock. It hadn't been the most pleasant of endings, and I had feared what it had done between the two of you."

"Things were… tense for a while, but we overcame it." Mycroft remembered that day with perfect clarity. Sherlock had once again treated Ms Hooper with less respect than she deserved. Mycroft had called him out on it, and the whole thing descended into an epic argument complete with curses thrown. After that things between his brother and Ms Hooper had ceased, and he hadn't seen her again.

"I never understood it, why you acted the way you did. I had known the way Sherlock was from the beginning, and I had no illusions that he would change just because we were friends." Molly moved a little closer to Mycroft, her hand pressing a little tighter on his arm.

"A wizard should never treat his witch the way that my brother did." He would have said more, but the look of wonder on Ms Hooper's face was enough to stall him.

"I was never his witch. I admit that I had thought about it at one point, but…. well…" Molly ran her hand down his arm until she could twine her fingers with his. "Well, then you came along."

For the first time in forever he was rendered speechless. He didn't know what to say or what to do, so he just blurted out the first thing that came to him.

"Would you like to accompany me on the first Hogsmeade weekend?"

Molly laughed and placed her other hand other their clasped hands.

"I would like nothing better."

* * *

Author's Note: Tumblr prompt: requested Mollcroft, fantasy, like Potterlock. Besides a short oneshot and a failed attempt at a chaptered story, this would be my first venture into the world of Harry Potter. It has also been a long while since I've had anything significant to do with the Potter fandom. So I hope it was alright.

 **Disclaimer:** **All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended.**


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